HPV TYPING BY IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION ON CERVICAL CYTOLOGIC SMEARS WITHASCUS

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prognostic significance of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) using an in situ hybridizat ion (ISH) method for destained cervical cytologic smears and a cocktai l of biotinylated DNA probes for human papillomavirus (HPV) 6, 11, 16, 18, 31 and 33. STUDY DESIGN: Two HPV DNA probe mixtures were applied to the same smear for the simultaneous detection of high-risk HPV type s 16, 18, 31 and 33 and low-risk HPV 6 and 11. ISH was carried out on 192 smears. Among them, 59 showed koilocytosis, 91 ASCUS and 42 normal features. RESULTS: Low-risk HPV types were rarely found and associate d mainly with koilocytosis (17%). High rates of potentially oncogenic HPV were detected in ASCUS (41%) and condyloma (73%). In addition, sim ilar levels of positivity were found to be associated with ASCUS when using two probe mixtures specific to high-risk HPV: one included HPV g enotypes 16 and 18 and the other, genotypes 31 and 33. CONCLUSION: HPV DNA typing by ISH on cervical cytologic smears might improve the iden tification of women at high risk of developing precancerous and cancer ous cervical lesions.